Super Mario: Plague
by xXThunderflameXx
Summary: A mysterious illness is creeping throughout the Mushroom Kingdom, siphoning life energy to feed an ancient creature. To stop the plague, Mario must once again venture to the center of the Universe - this time, with Peach in tow!
1. Bowser's castle

Mario was panting as he got to the front door of Bowser's castle. The green, red-haired turtle-bull dog hybrid that was Mario's arch nemesis had apparently taken a liking to technology, apparent from the lasers, hovercraft, forcefields, and robots the red-capped plumber was facing more and more frequently. Bowser hadn't given up on the good ol' Goombas, bottomless pits, and Bullet Bills present from the first Super Mario Bros., but from now on Mario would have to worry as much about stun rays as fire poles. It was all a part of who Bowser was. The Koopa longed for power, in whatever form. It was what fueled his two greatest desires, to beat Mario and to marry Princess Peach. Just two signs of strength.

The particular symbol of power Mario was facing at the moment was a red energy field around the large, wooden front double-doors to Bowser's black castle. There was a gold-plated lead 'key' Mario had lugged in from behind the castle, which was essentially a cube with two handles on opposing sides. Mario slid the gilded block into a slot between the two doors designed for it. The red sparks playing around the doors converged onto the block, which allowed one of the doors to open. Mario pushed the door enough so that a sizable crack appeared, and squeezed through.

The first room Mario entered was a large staircase. There were several hazards present on the stairs: there were stun rays, pistons, energy turrets, enemies literally crawling out of the woodwork. It looked like quite an impressive obstacle course, and indeed, it wasn't something Mario could sneeze at. Still, it wasn't something he couldn't handle. Mario leapt into action, springing off Gombas, hopping over Bullet Bills, sprinting past rotating energy turrets. It seemed as though the man had a star inside him, feeding him an unending stream of energy.

As Mario reached the top of the staircase, a second set of double doors opened. Bowser was holding the door, politely ushering Mario inside. Mario instantly leapt back, landing in a crouching position with his fists up. Bowser laughed.

"Please, Mario. I'd like to save the brawl for after big reveal," Bowser stated, "I think Donovan and I have come up with something real special this time, and I'd the opportunity to truly savor this. Then we can go Man to Koopa."


	2. Reveal and fight

Mario was seated on a rather large, red couch in Bowser's lobby. The koopa had developed his sense of taste with his liking to technology, evidenced by the various paintings and statues in the wood-floored room, not all of which centered around him.

"Let me be blunt," Bowser began, "I know about the Koopa Shell."

Mario felt a surge of adrenaline course through him. He knew about the koopa shell, too – he had helped work on it. The fort had once been a tall hill a few miles away from Peach's castle. It kind of still was, but now the entire hill had been hollowed and steel-reinforced. If Bowser (Or any other villain) was to threaten Princess Peach, the princess would be moved through warp pipe to the Shell, which had enough supplies to provide for her for up to a year.

"Donovan, the video, please," Bowser requested. A tall man stepped through a sliding door. Donovan Gadd looked old, with grey hair and a few wrinkles, but a powerful stride spoke that age had not slowed the man down. Donovan had a large, though not long, nose, and his gelled hair went to his hips.

Donovan pulled a remote from his pocket, and pressed a large button. One of the suspended spherical lamps turned black, and displayed Peach's castle, the Koopa Shell, and the warp pipe connecting them in a hologram. Donovan then grabbed a pair of sizzors, and snipped at the holographic pipe at two locations. A portion of the image dropped down, and the image of a joint for the pipe appeared. Donovan grabbed the joint, and placed it on the caste end of pipe. A section of pipe extended from the joint a little ways. Where it stopped, a square portion of the lobby's wood floor opened up, and a black pipe with Bowser's face came up.

"That's right, Mario. I send my ships from Toad Town to Peach, and the princess hops in her pipe. Right into my castle," Bowser remarked, "And that is my plan. Simple, but elegant. But now that I've finished my reveal..."

The Koopa developed a fireball in the mouth horned, bull-doggish head.

"...Time to fight," Bowser finished, through the flames. He blasted Mario, more worried about his nemesis than his couch. Mario, with his famed jumping ability, was able to leap up, dodging the attack. On his way back down, Mario leapt toward Bowser, and swung around to kick him in the face.

"Impressive," Donovan clapped, "Now, let me show you my new trick."

Donovan Gadd pressed a small, blue button on his remote. Mario looked around, and seeing no change, went to attack Bowser again.

He rammed into an invisible wall.

"Like it?" Donovan asked, "I figured that the 'final battle' terrains have usually aided you, Mario. I thought I could make a terrain that aided lord Bowser. So I made invisible walls to get in your way. They'll shift around, so you have to constantly look out for your surroundings. And there was something else... what am I forgetting?.."

Bowser launched another fire ball.

"Oh yes! Bowser can phase through the walls!" Donovan laughed, as Mario ran around, trying to extinguish his mustache.

That Mario quickly accomplished, and returned to offense. He immediately noticed that the walls carried a bit of a sheen, giving him something to look out for. Using this information, Mario wall-jumped around, using this hindrance as another advantage.

He had nearly come close enough to Bowser, when the walls changed. Mario lost his balance, and collided with another wall. As he got back up, he saw Bowser, ducked in his shell, sliding toward him. Bowser poked his foot out of the shell, kicking Mario back to the wall. As Mario bounced back, Bowser, now standing upright, hit him back again. This continued a while, Bowser using several attacks to bounce his opponent off the wall. Then Bowser caught Mario in his hand, held him to his mouth, and generated another fireball.

"So long, Mario. See ya in hell," Bowser grinned, his fireball nearly large enough to finish his opponent off. Mario struggled furiously...

...and broke free of Bowser's grasp! He dropped to the floor, and then punched Bowser in the shell. Bowser bounced backwards, and stayed there, his limbs lying down. Mario was surprised. He knew the attack would be powerful, but he didn't expect it to defeat the spike-shelled brute.

"Gah...what...somethin-something's wrong..." Bowser groaned, "My... my strength... I can't move..."

Mario hopped on Bowser's plastron, and checked his neck for a pulse. Sure enough, it was weak, and irregular. Either Bowser had learned some amazing control of his own heart... or he was in trouble. As the turtle grew more and more lethargic, Mario sided with the latter. Donovan deactivated the invisible walls in the room, and rushed to his liege's side. He grabbed a hand-held radio.

"Medical team, we have an emergency!" Donovan shouted


	3. Lifesucking illness

The mammoth, spiked koopa Bowser stirred from unconsciousness on the medical cot.

"Uhh...were am... the medical chamber?" Bowser asked weakly, "How did I..?"

"You have a good arch-nemesis," Donovan replied, "After you fell unconscious, Mario helped carry you here. He did have some of your minions helping him, but if Mario hadn't dragged you... I'm not sure I could have stabilized your condition in time."

"Condition?" Bowser asked, "What's wrong with me?"

"Somehow, your enthalpy is decreasing anomalously," Donovan answered, "Your body is undergoing exothermic – energy releasing – processes, but its not getting any energy from it. It seemed that you were destroying energy, a violation of the laws of physics. I don't think this is true, but regardless, the energy that should be going into keeping you alive... well, isn't.

"I was able to create a device to power your body, while your normal energy-providing organelles are... malfunctioning. It's the only thing keeping you alive, and it has several limitations," Donovan Gadd continued, "The most disappointing, it's stationary. You either remain in bed until I can fix this, or you die."

"Such a delightful choice," Bowser replied, "So are you getting close to figuring out what the hell is causing this?"

"Unfortunately, I may have a hunch," Edward Gadd said, holding a DS computer. He had arrived through the warp pipe Bowser had intercepted, after Donovan had contacted him. Donovan's older brother hadn't looked forward to assisting Mario's arch-nemesis, but Donovan had made the convincing point that the strange disease may be able to spread, and saving Bowser's life could save countless more people.

When that didn't work, Donovan threatened to deploy the armada if his brother didn't cooperate.

"There is a story in Mushroom Kingdom legend. It tells of a plague which had the sole symptom of sapping the strength of its victims, and causing weight loss regardless of how much food was consumed. The legend gives an account of the cause – an extraterrestrial that originated from the center of the universe, who stole the strength of those he infected," E. Gadd explained, "I thought it was only a myth."

"How about now?" Bowser asked, "I take it that this extraterrestrial was eventually defeated. How?"

"You'll remember how you made Tubba Blubba invincible by separating his body from his heart," E. Gadd replied, "The extraterrestrial is similar. He could manifest himself wherever he wanted in the Universe, but his core essence remained in the Center. Supposedly, those who hadn't been affected used the Power Stars to build a ship capable of flying to the Center of Universe, and confronted the entity."

"It's a shame we couldn't have kept some of the power stars we collected from the Comet Observatory," Bowser commented. Donovan grinned.

"We may not need them," Donovan stated. He grabbed a small screen from his pocket.

"I have been working on an alternative to star-powered space flight," Donovan continued, "That is the result. I'm not able to power the flying saucers, but that small ship... I haven't completed it yet, but when it is finished, it should be able to get us to the Center of the Universe within a week."

"Well, I hope you can finish it quickly. You were right, this isn't contained; I have several reports of people in the Mushroom Kingdom falling ill," Edward Gadd stated, holding his DS computer, "And Princess Peach is one of the victims."

* * *

**111 hits. Not bad, but I could use some feedback. I know I can't force you to review, but come on. Even a score out of 10 would be enough, is that so hard?**


	4. Side effect

Mario escorted a stretcher-bound Toad into a large warehouse. It, and three like it, had been emptied, and outfitted with a modification to Donovan's device, meant to help over a hundred patients of the new illness. Those uninfected were desperately trying to get their diseased into the safehouses – including Luigi, until he, too, fell to the debilitating illness.

E. Gadd was inside the warehouse Mario was releasing the Toad to, making modifications to his new device. It was a wide cylinder, holding a glass dome containing a single Power Star and supporting wires, which wove around the ceiling of the facility. The elderly doctor had also become a victim of the disease, but he was determined to help in any way he could.

No sooner than when Mario got the Toad settled, Donovan stepped into the warehouse.

"The ship is finished, Mario," the tall doctor stated, "I have my technicians readying the craft as I speak; expect to be leaving in an hour."

"Good-a to hear," Mario replied. He was somewhat ambivalent about the news; he knew it would benefit everyone to take down the entity responsible as soon as possible, but… already, three people had died before they were reached. He wanted to help ensure there wasn't a fourth.

The door to the warehouse suddenly slammed open. It made Mario turn around; he know everyone in the rescue team was in a rush, but no one had opened a door so violently.

He quickly determined the person responsible for the disturbance: Princess Peach, standing on her own and looking quite hardy. She was wearing a pink jumpsuit, the same she wore for cycling in the Kart races.

"Princess!" Mario exclaimed, delighted to see her well, and curious as to why she had arrived. Toadsworth quickly hurried over to her.

"Princess, I demand that you abandon this nonsense," The brown-capped Toad said, "Think of what would happen to your…"

"I am thinking of my kingdom, Toadsworth," Peach replied, "Donovan, the ship you're sending Mario on has a second seat, right?"

"Yes, Princess," Donovan answered, "I was going to go myself; this is an experimental ship – and there's no telling what could go wrong with it. I'm the only person qualified to make repairs."

"No. I'm going," Peach stated. In demonstration, she held her arms in front of her out. A pink sphere began to form between her hands.

"Elvin told me about how the entity responsible for this stole some of the more powerful infected, and turned them against those that went to stop it," Peach clarified, "For some reason, contracting this disease has made me more powerful than I've ever felt. Don, if something breaks down, you can tell us how to fix it from here. I will be accompanying Mario."

"No, Princess, you won't! I won't have it," Toadsworth protested, "What if this is only temporary; what if this evolves into something less benign!? What if…"

"What if this entity is smarter than Bowser, and Mario would be defeated without my help, Toadsworth? How would the Mushroom Kingdom fair then?" Peach asked, "Right now, the only thing we know is that I now have the power to help Mario, and I have every intention of doing so."


End file.
